Talking Smack #2

Welcome one and all to the latest Talking Smack, the wrestling blog in which we attempt to break down this week’s Smackdown.

The Standout

This week’s standout has got to go to JBL on commentary. He does his job extremely well. There were a few times that I found myself paying more attention to the commentary than the actual match. Even though he’s a heel commentator, I really liked that he would compliment and criticize both faces and heels. To me, this is more unbiased commentary than anything the face announcers do. They sing the praises of the good guys no matter what the good guys do, even if it’s illegal. Sheamus steals and destroys Albert del Rio’s car; ADR had it coming. Edge kidnaps Paul Bearer; Kane shouldn’t have provoked Edge. And so forth. JBL calls it as down the middle as he can while still being a heel commentator, and that is impressive to me.

The Breakdown

The show opens with a match of Big Show vs. Sheamus to decide who has the most devastating finishing move. Booker T decided on this “match” because of the buzz going around the WWE Universe. Is he talking about a WWE Alternate Universe? Because I haven’t heard one person debate this. Regardless, I feel for Big Show in this. I don’t think any one is taking this match seriously, Sheamus certainly isn’t. Booker T isn’t, or he wouldn’t be making debates and skills tests.

The previous leads to a Sheamus vs. Tensai match. Tensai has had a chip on his shoulder ever since Sheamus Borough Kicked him to one-up the Big Show. This is very realistic to me, and he has every right to go after Sheamus. I wouldn’t mind seeing an actual feud build from this. Tensai is a little bit slower in the ring than Sheamus, but the match was decent, and I could see some really good bouts stem from it.

We’ve got Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal against Santio Marella and Zack Ryder, and Zack Ryder is by far the best wrestler in the ring. That’s sad to me on a few levels. It shows that Zack has the skills to hang with the big boys, but the thing that got him over is the same thing that is holding him back. He needs to tweak his character a little bit. Another reason it’s sad is that , while every one that is in the ring can be entertaining, they’re all pretty much jobbers. So “The Band” is essentially a stable of jobbers. In their current state of goofballs playing air guitar, I can’t see them rising any higher than being a group of bullies. Also, Jinder Mahal needs to change his entrance gear, cause it doesn’t really flow with the other two guys.

Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler ended in a DQ, and I didn’t see any reason why it had to be that way. Usually the heel will attack his or her opponent with an object when he or she doesn’t feel that they can win that match. That wasn’t the case, no pun intended, here. It was give and take for both of them, and there was a little bit of time where Ziggler was in control of the match. This should have played itself out. If they are going to move Dolph Ziggler to the main event stage then he is going to have to be able to beat the WWE’s top-tier guys.

Afterwards there’s an altercation, and Daniel Bryan gets involved on Kane’s behalf. Even this was insulting to Kane? Come on guys, this is starting to get old. Then they both do their finishing moves on Matt Stryker. Exactly how are they not a heel team?

Why was Hornswaggle in a tiny dressing room by himself playing with a Randy Orton doll?

Remember earlier when I mentioned I found myself paying attention more to the commentary than the match? The Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show fight was that match. It was boring and a wasted opportunity. The Miz was at the commentary table watching the match. The opponents were Big Show, who knocked Miz out the previous week in an attempt to one-up Sheamus, and Kofi Kingston, who the Miz has been forced in to a feud with. Of course he’s going to get involved……but he doesn’t. Why not? Tensai went after Sheamus. Why wouldn’t the Miz naturally go after the Big Show? It’s okay to start naturally-progressing storylines, especially if you’re thinking beyond the next pay-per-view. However, Miz doesn’t get involved. In fact, he waits until after the match to go in the ring and mock Kofi. Then why was he at the commentary booth? He could have still done the same thing by coming out from the back. It’s upsetting to think that we were all hoping for a Miz/Ryback feud a couple of weeks ago, but instead we’re getting this Miz/Kofi one.

The Divas bickering sound like chipmunks on speed. They found a blond wig in Eve’s bag. First off, why were they going through her bags? Second, why would Eve carry that around with her almost a month after the incident? They need to finish this storyline soon, and I seriously hope Eve didn’t have anything to do with the attack on Kaitlyn.

Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow was really disappointing. Especially considering that we were treated to a stellar match between Sandow and Sheamus not too long ago. I understand why Sin Cara has a lot of fans. He’s very acrobatic, and it can be fun to watch. However, I honestly think that he lowers the in-ring abilities of his competitors. I don’t know how he’s doing this, but I can tell the difference between when his opponents fight someone else and when they fight him.

I was incredibly impressed with Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto del Rio. For some reason, Sheamus/ADR wasn’t connecting with fans. However, I think a Daniel Bryan/ADR campaign could be very entertaining, especially if this match had anything to say about. Three things. 1. Daniel Bryan ripped up another fan’s sign. Again, how is he not a heel? So if he’s a face with heel tactics, why can’t CM Punk be a heel with face tactics? 2. Daniel Bryan tapped out! I did not see that happening, which made it even cooler. 3. Just as I’m about to put ADR on my “keep an eye on list” they went and gave him a microphone. WWE, why do you ruin awesome matches by insisting that Alberto del Rio do his own mic work? It’s not healthy for the WWE Universe to have to go through this multiple times a week. However, the way Randy Orton snuck up on him after the match was awesome. Robert Rodriguez gets involved and pays the price for that. I actually think it looks like it hurts more when the table doesn’t break, which it never seems to do for Randy Orton.

Comments

Not bad, wouldn't mind reading this on a weekly basis. And I commented simply to say that I fully agree on Zack Ryder. He's really been doing great in the ring lately and as a fan it's sad to see him struggling with his status in the company.

Nice column, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say, sometimes Smackdown just seems like a complete mess to me, and that was how it felt this week. Towards the end of the show I just sat and wondered what the heck they were trying to do with this show. Beyond Big Show/Sheamus (which is the least exciting storyline ever), they barely moved forward any storylines this week.

I totally agree on Sin Cara. He was fantastic the first 2 times I saw him, but now he just does nothing for me. Cara should be kept in a tag team, because his singles matches are just really boring and uninspiring.

@sret - Yeah, you can tell that Zack has stepped up his game. He seemed really quick paced in his match on Smackdown. I wonder if he's trying to prove to the WWE that he belongs there.

@flamhoff - I know, right? I remember when I was excited about every match on a PPV. There were some that I looked forward to more than others, but even the low card was something that I was looking forward to. Now, it seems like they're putting things together the week before.

@AJ - JBL is a beast on the microphone! I don't think I appreciated it when he was wrestling.

Enjoyed the read and yeah when Tensai started that small feud with Sheamus I was more interested in him. Plus I liked how you said Encore is a band of jobbers, it made me laugh. And yes, ADR should be banned from using a mic for the rest of his career in the WWE. Liked the blog, and JBL For the win on commentary

Enjoyed the read and yeah when Tensai started that small feud with Sheamus I was more interested in him. Plus I liked how you said Encore is a band of jobbers, it made me laugh. And yes, ADR should be banned from using a mic for the rest of his career in the WWE. Liked the blog, and JBL For the win on commentary

Hey Cross. Thanks for the comment. Yeah, ADR could seriously benefit from having a manager and working against someone that he could mesh with. If the WWE would do that, I think people would stop groaning every time they saw him. He's got the in-ring skills. He just hasn't been in the right feud yet, and they keep letting him talk. Why? Can't they hear in the back? He just keeps saying random things. Sigh.